Bias in the Machine: Standardized Tools Confronting Irregular Materials

Architectural production is reliant on physical tools, whether analog or digital, to transform physical matter. These tools have been developed iteratively by numerous authors and inventors, sometimes over centuries or millennia. They are designed to work with specific materials, and as materials used in construction have become increasingly standardized, so too have fabrication technologies. This produces an inherent machine bias, in which certain tools are conducive to certain types or forms of material. As architects look to natural mate­rials (live-edge boards, whole logs, hemp, bioplastics, etc.) to confront the carbon impact of construction, the challenge of transforming irregular materials with standardized tools that assume a standard material input becomes apparent. This paper examines the bias of standard fabrication tools relative to the materials with which they have been designed to work, with a focus on roundwood as a case study that suggests tech­niques for authoring or transforming other natural materials. It argues and presents strategies for adaptation in the use of these tools through the design of jigs or other equipment to hold and process irregular natural materials safely and precisely. Workholding is explored as it relates to tables, fences, and beds, as well as expanded methods including digital twinning and techniques for registering and tracking physical and digital locations and geometries of irregular material. It argues for the benefit of such atypical applications on several fronts: ability to increase efficiency and expres­sion of irregular natural materials in architecture, improved access to affordable fabrication methods through adaptation of existing equipment, and pedagogical benefits for students. The paper discusses the parallel standardization of tools and materials and presents samples of academic research and student work in which the design and use of specialized jigs and other workflows successfully enable the processing of irregular materials on standard tools.